


Run With Me to Dance in the Night

by Eylle9



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Barton Family, Bruce Banner-centric, F/M, Fluff, Marriage Proposal, Team as Family, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-22
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:42:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27668384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eylle9/pseuds/Eylle9
Summary: Bruce is ready to start sharing his life with the woman he loved but making a proposal is so much harder than it sounds. At least, the team is there to help. Stories got told, ideas being found but only Bruce can find the cure to his problem.
Relationships: Bruce Banner & Avengers Team, Bruce Banner & Thor, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark, Bruce Banner/Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	Run With Me to Dance in the Night

**Author's Note:**

> Happy birthday to Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo! Thank you for bringing these characters to life.

Bruce has been getting ready for this day for a long time. If someone asked him a few years ago about his ideas in marriage, he would laugh in their face. But today, yes today, he was going to propose to Natasha Romanoff, the world's deadliest assassin, a master spy. treatment. And one of the biggest improvements happened just after Bruce had bought the Yet for Bruce she was none of those, just like how he is not just a monster for her. She was his ballerina who had danced her way right into his heart, the person who is always there for him when he has to deal with the other guy. She was his best friend before she became the woman he loved. She was the person who listened to him when he nerds about science, she was the person who would learn quantum physics just to make conservation with him. She was his intelligent girlfriend who would hopefully become his wife in the future.

He decided to propose to her two weeks ago and Tony found the ring ~~fortunately or unfortunately he still couldn't decide~~ the day he bought it, under the salicylic acid. He had a lot to do that day. He and a group of brilliant young scientists have been researching the possible use of gamma radiation to re-create illnesses which are caused by radiation in the laboratory environment so biologists can work more easily to find a cure, he didn't even have time to hide the ring and he certainly forgot Peter would come and the ring was just there without anything other than one of the main materials, which Peter uses in his web formula, covering it. 

Fortunately Tony didn't tell Peter when he found the ring. Don't get him wrong, he loved the kid. Peter was his _science nephew._ But he couldn't understand the kid these days and was not sure about what Peter's reaction was going to be if he was not there when he learned the truth. And Tony… well Tony had been teasing him since the day he learned. On the other hand, he has never done it in front of Natasha and he was rather helpful about the organization.

Unfortunately Bruce didn't have any idea in the beginning. He wanted it to be meaningful for Nat. And Tony had many _big_ ideas going as far to offer writing their names in the air, but Bruce didn't think it would make Nat happy. It seemed Tony was only romantic when it came to Pepper. A week later they decided to tell the team. The only ones in the compound were Steve, Thor, and Peter. All of them were excited when they heard the news. Steve even said that he knew that was going to happen all along. And when they reached the real issue in hand, there were a lot of stories to listen to.

The first one was told by Thor. It was about how his father Odin proposed to his mother, Frigga. If Bruce was honest with himself it was a lovely story, but he was not the king of Asgard and he most certainly _could not_ kill a frost giant and come with Gyllir just to propose to Natasha. And honestly, Bruce was not sure how romantic that was, bringing the head of one’s enemies in the purpose of proposing.

The second story was Steve's. It was a story that Steve remembered from his days in the war before he was frozen in ice for 70 years. It was a cute story about two soldiers, who had fallen in love with each other. Steve said that it was Peggy who told Steve how their story had ended. When they had won the war, one of the two soldiers proposed when they were still on the front-line. They had a happy marriage, even adopted a son and named him Steve but there wasn’t, fortunately, a war going on so Bruce wouldn’t be able to propose in one; that was probably for the best as in a battle he would have turned into Hulk so that also wasn’t an option.

Peter's was not a story, but rather, it was an idea, "Why don't you propose in Russian?" He asked innocently. Well, this wasn't a bad idea, it was actually a great one and he would use it most certainly but it wouldn't be enough. It seemed that Bruce was alone in this, that or, his friends were just terrible event planners. 

On the night of that fateful day, he was not able to sleep so he got up to do something else. The moment he left his room, he heard the relaxing melody of Nat's ballet music. Then he made his way to the kitchen and prepared two cups of hot chocolate like they always did when both of them couldn’t sleep. Sometimes they would not speak, just sit and drink their hot chocolates but it would make them feel better, just knowing that the other was there no matter what.

And then Bruce got an idea. Ballet meant the purity of childhood to Natasha. That's why she would dance when she had nightmares because to her, the ballet was the only source of innocence she had in her life. And their relationship was pure, they didn't want any benefit from each other. It's just like dopamine and oxytocin started secreting the moment they met. And they both have done things they regret every day, they mourn every person that died because of their actions. But even still, they taught each other to love even with the red on their hands.

So yes, Bruce knew what to propose with. No, he wouldn't use a ring, as everyone did. He would propose with pink pointe shoes. But he needed help so he turned to his science bro.

Tony somehow convinced Clint to invite all of them to his house. Bruce remembered hearing something about a Mario Kart tournament between the Avengers and Clint’s kids. Knowing how crazy things got between the Avengers let alone actual children ~~(even though Clint could be considered one)~~ it would be a perfect distraction. 

And today Bruce was standing in the house, where Nat had made the first move, to make the last move. 

It was Natasha and Clint’s turn to play. They had been waiting for this since they came to the house. Peter was distracting the kids, they were playing with the Avengers toys and arguing about who was going to be Spider-Man. Peter was having so much fun, and only a little proud of himself. Lila had the Black Widow one, it seemed like it was hers only, no one else had permission to play with it. Apparently, Steve had given it to her when he found it at a craft store.

Choosing the music was Bruce’s job. He was sure Tony would have chosen music from AC/DC, while Steve would have used something old fashioned. Bruce was not sure about Asgard’s music culture so he was the one trying to find a song.

Steve and Tony were preparing the other arrangements like lighting and decorating. Steve was bearing the heavy things while Tony was doing the technological part of the job. And Thor, he was distracting Laura, who seemed a bit suspicious, but she was not saying anything, so Bruce considered it a win. And if Bruce was being honest with himself, it sounded like they were having a genuine talk. He could hear Mrs. Barton’s laughter.

When everything was ready, Tony went to distract Clint and Steve brought Natasha to the room and conveniently left them behind, a sputtering excuse on his lips that no one would ever believe.

The song started playing and Natasha looked at Bruce. She was trying to understand what was happening. She would understand it given the time, so Bruce started talking.

"Nat,” he said and reached for her hands. “I've written all of the things I wanted to say before but now I don't remember any of them. It seems I'm going to improvise. I used to think I was just a monster. But then Loki decided to steal the Tesseract from S.H.I.E.L.D. and I became a part of a team, and I met you, the true you, without the masks. I met Natasha, not the Black Widow. I started realizing that there are people who care because I'm Bruce Banner, not Hulk. And then years ago, in this house, you asked me to run with you but instead, I ran from you because I was scared, I still saw myself as a monster. And um, in truth, I thought I would harm you. It has been many years since then and I learned how to love again, both myself and you. I started feeling like I'm not only a beast that takes lives when I spend time with you. I accepted the Hulk because of you and today I'm ready to run with you. Natasha Romanoff, will you run with me?" Bruce took a knee and the pink pointe shoes were there in his hands. "Выходи за меня замуж?" Bruce was able to see their friends standing outside out of the corner of his eye. He was holding his breath, the seconds he waited felt like hours. It was just like he reached a high speed and everything around him slowed down as Einstein had said in the theory of relativity.

“Yes, Bruce. I will run with you, I will marry you.” He heard neither the applause nor the congratulations of his friends. He lost himself in the green eyes of his now-fiancée. When he realized what he was doing, he felt Nat’s lip uniting with his. He once again looked at the green eyes and believed that everything would be okay. This was the happy ending of the first story and a new beginning for every story they would face, this time together, hand and hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Thank you for reading! I like thinking that I'm open to criticism, so I would like to read your comments. Also a big shout out to [crazyinfj](https://archiveofourown.org/users/crazyinfj/pseuds/crazyinfj) for being the best beta ever! I wouldn't be able to post this without her help. The stories that were told by Steve and Thor has been made up by me, I apologize if this offended anyone who is interested in Norse Mythology or World War II.


End file.
